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The Toronto Maple Leafs organization has drafted and developed a number of youngsters currently playing in the NHL (Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander), but the focus of prospect development under former GM Kyle Dubas and the last few seasons under Director of Amateur Scouting Wes Clark seemed to be on skill players, while GM Brad Treliving has begun to transition with a focus on young players with size.
As we did last year, we will rank the club’s top prospects over the upcoming weeks based on their progress in either the NCAA, CHL, Europe, ECHL or AHL and their potential to make the Leafs roster and contribute in the future.
Youngsters like Bobby McMann, Joseph Woll, Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, and top-rated Matthew Knies have graduated, but here is a list of players eligible for the list who have not played more than 40 NHL games and are 25 years old or younger:
#40 - Wyatt Schingoethe – C (Western Michigan – NCAA)
#39 - Zach Solow - RW (Toronto - AHL)
#38 - Semyon Kizimov - RW -(Yekaterinberg - KHL)
#37 - Robert Mastrosimone – LW. (Toronto – AHL)
#36 - Marko Sikic – RW (Sarnia – OHL, Newfoundland/Norfolk – ECHL)
#35 – Jacob Bengtsson – D (Boston College – NCAA)
#34 – Nicolas Mattinen – D (Straubling – Germany-DEL)
#33 – Matthew Barbolini – F (Miami(OH) – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#32 – Nathan Mayes – D (Spokane – WHL)
#31 – Braeden Kressler – C (Flint/Ottawa – OHL
#30 – Jacob Frasca – C (Barrie/ Sault Ste. Marie.- OHL)
#29 – Chas Sharpe – D (Mississauga – OHL, Toronto – AHL)
#28 – Hudson Malinoski – C (Providence – NCAA)
#27 – John Fusco – D (Dartmouth – NCAA
#26 – Semyon Der-Argushintsev (Chelyabinsk Traktor – KHL)
#25 – Ty Voit – RW – (Newfoundland – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
The Maple Leafs had only three picks in the 2021 NHL Draft after making deals for rentals Nick Foligno, David Rittich, and Ben Hutton. In the fifth round, Toronto followed their usual modus operandi during Kyle Dubas’ administration of opting for players with high skill first and foremost, selecting Sarnia Sting forward Ty Voit 153rd overall.
The Pittsburgh area product had an excellent rookie season as a 16-year-old (8 goals, 20 assists in 49 games) with the Sting, but did not play in 2021 because of the OHL shutdown. After a year hiatus, Voit had a breakout season, leading Sarnia with 80 points (26 goals, 54 assists) in 67 games, prompting the Leafs to sign them to a three-year entry-level contract in December.
That decision looked quite fortuitous for Toronto, as Voit exploded last season, finishing second in OHL scoring with 105 points (24 goals, 81 assists) in 67 games. The 5’10” 161 lb. forward is speedy with an excellent skating stride and high agility according to the HP Black Book.
"His great edge work combined with good vision and spatial awareness allows him to maneuver around defensemen and generate scoring plays. Although Voit is undersized, his skating helps mitigates that concern, as he had no problem generating offense against bigger opponents."
The question in front of Voit is whether he can translate his junior success to the pros, but injuries prevented that from being clarified last season. The 21-year-old suffered a shoulder injury in September at the Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, MI, and did not get back into action until December. There were early positive signs, as the young winger started out with eight points in five games with the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers, but after being promoted to the AHL Marlies, he suffered a reoccurrence of the shoulder injury and surgery to repair it ended his season.
Based on his speed and offensive chops, scoring will not be the issue, but similar to Leafs winger Nick Robertson, other aspects of his game like durability and strength are the questions that will have to be answered over the next few years.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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